Open end two point contact wrench

ABSTRACT

An open end wrench which contacts two faces of a polygonal headed fastener at substantially the midpoints of the faces. A handle terminates in a head having two spaced jaws connected through a concave arcuate surface, each jaw terminating in a rounded contacting surface. Both jaws may be rigid or one jaw may be movable to give a ratcheting effect to the wrench. The concavity of the arcuate surface aids in positioning the wrench so that the jaws contact the midpoints of the faces of the fastener head.

United States Patent Myers [451 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] OPEN END TWO POINT CONTACT WRENCH [72] Inventor: Herman A. Myers, R.D. f1, Box

125, Lake Lynn, Pa. 15451 [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 95,149

[52] US. Cl ..81/129 [51] Int. Cl. ..B25b 13/12 [58] FieldofSearch ..81/119, 129

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,671,368 3/1954 Diebold ..81/119 3,563,118 2/1971 Rydell .,.8 l/ l29 V v FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 108,568 9/1943 Sweden ..81/129 1,029,806 3/1953 France ..81/129 Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Attorney-Webb, Burden, Robinson & Webb [57] ABSTRACT An open end wrench which contacts two faces of a polygonal headed fastener at substantially the midpoints of the faces. A handle terminates in a head having two spaced jaws connected through a concave arcuate surface, each jaw terminating in a rounded contacting surface. Both jaws may be rigid or one jaw may be movable to give a ratcheting efi'ect to the wrench. The concavity of the arcuate surface aids in positioning the wrench so that the jaws contact the midpoints of the faces of the fastener head.

2Clains,4DrawingFi3ures PATENTEDAU: a 1912 3.682.024

INVENTOR.

HERMAN A. MYERS 4 wwwfwM OPEN TWO CONTACT WRENCH This invention relates to an open end wrench and, more particularly, to an open end wrench making two point contact with a fastener head. The standard open end type wrench has rigid jaws which contact the entire opposing faces of a fastener head and, in general, the jaws extend well beyond the faces which are contacted. Because of this, the standard open end wrench becomes a cumbersome tool where the fastener is employed in tight fitting work areas, such as where a fastener is positioned immediately adjacent an elongated flange.

My invention overcomes the cumbersomeness of the standard open end wrench without sacrificing the gripping strength. At the same time, the leverage available is increased through the more centralized contact points. My inventions greatest improvement over the known wrench lies in the embodiment in which one of the jaws is movable, and in that embodiment the ratcheting effect achieved thereby permits an even greater compactness and utility when used in tight fitting work areas.

My invention is an open end wrench having a two point contact through completely rounded surfaces of the two jaws on opposing faces of a fastener head. One jaw may be movable to give a ratcheting effect to the wrench. In all cases the area joining the two rounded jaws is arcuate and concave to aid in the positioning of the jaws on the midpoints of the faces of the fastener head.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my presently preferred embodiments of my invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of my wrench with rigid jaws;

FIG. 2 is a frontal view of my wrench wherein one of the jaws is movable;

FIG. 3 is a frontal view showing the rigid jaw and wrench head for the embodiment of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an end view of the movable jaw of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

In its simplest form my wrench, generally designated 10, comprises a handle 11 and a wrench head 12 integral therewith. The wrench head 12 terminates in two spaced rigid jaws l3 and 14, respectively, which oppose each other and which provide the opening therebetween for insertion onto a hexagonal head 17 of a fastener. The contacting surfaces of the jaws 13 and 14, respectively, are rounded surfaces 15 and 16, respectively. These rounded surfaces are necessary to obtain the no slip contact on the opposing faces 18 and 19 of the hex head and to result in improved leverage by the localized contact areas. The jaws 13 and 14 are connected through a concave arcuate surface 21. The concavity of the surface 21 is such that it contacts the edge 20 of the fastener head intermediate the opposing faces 18 and 19 to guide the rounded contacting surfaces 15 and 16 to the precise midpoints of the faces 18 and 19.

While I have shown one particular wrench head connected to a handle 11, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that a normal open end wrench possesses two wrench heads of different sizes to accommodate standard fastener heads on opposing ends of the handle and, of course, my wrench is so adaptable.

The principle of my open end wrench can also be employed with a movable jaw to give a ratcheting effect to the wrench. In FIGS. 2-4, I have shown such an open end ratcheting wrench with two point contact. Parts similar to the earlier embodiment are similarly numbered and followed by a prime.

Handle 11' terminates in wrench head 31. The wrench head 31 at one end comprises rigid jaw 13 terminating in rounded surface l5' for contacting the face 18 of fastener head 17. The end of the wrench head 31 opposite to the rigid jaw end terminates in flat surface 33 and contains a pair of recesses 27 and 28 extending rearwardly therefrom. Recesses 27 and 28 are similarly positioned in the opposing faces-of the wrench head and form a web section 32 therebetween, see FIG. 3.

A movable jaw 22 also terminates in a rounded surface 24 for contacting the opposing face 19' of fastener 17'. Movable jaw 22 has a pair of extended flanges 25 at its end opposite the rounded surface 24, see FIG. 4. These flanges 25 form a channel 26 therebetween which slidably cooperates with the recesses 28 and 27 of wrench head 31 and over web 32.

A bore 30 extends rearwardly through the web section 32 and is aligned with a bore 36 which extends rearwardly from the end of channel 26. A coil spring 29 is positioned within the aligned bores 30 and 36 of the wrench head 31. A coil spring 29 is held in bore 30 by means of a pin 34 which extends through opening 38 in the wrench head 31 at the end of bore 30 and which is normal to the recesses 27 and 28. The coil spring 29 is similarly held in bore 36 by a pin 35 which extends through opening 37 in the movable jaw at the rearward end of the bore 36.

The flat surface end of the wrench head 31 connects to the rigid jaw 13' through concavely arcuate surface 21 in the same manner as the earlier embodiment.

My two point contact wrench operates as follows. The proper sized wrench head is inserted over the head of a hex headed fastener until an edge of the fastener contacts the arcuate concave surface of the wrench head. When this occurs the rounded contacting surfaces of the two jaws are positioned at the midpoint of opposing faces of the fastener head. The wrench is then operated in normal fashion to turn the fastener. When the movable jaw embodiment is employed, the wrench head is positioned on the fastener head in the same manner. A forward or clockwise movement of the handle operates the wrench in the same manner as the wrench having the two rigid jaws. However, movement in a rearward or counterclockwise direction urges the movable jaw away from the wrench head in opposition to the urging of the coil spring connected therebetween to give a ratcheting effect. Therefore, it can be seen that my wrench is particularly adaptable to tight fitting places where the normal open end wrenches are too large and cumbersome for practical utilization. In addition, my wrench does not round off the comers of a fastener head which a standard open end wrench has a tendency to do, and the ratcheting permits tightening or loosening of the fastener without removing the 3 stantially their midpoints comprising a handle terminating in a wrench head including a rigid jaw as an extension thereof and a pair of recesses spaced from the rigid jaw and similarly positioned in opposing faces of the wrench head to form a web section therebetween, a movable jaw having a channeled flange section positioned in sliding cooperation in said recesses about said web, and a spring means positioned between the movable jaw and the wrench head to urge said movable jaw toward said head, said jaws being spaced in gripping relationship and connected through a concave arcuate surface, said concavity such that the arcuate surface is adapted to contact a leading edge of the fastener head to assure the positioning of the two jaws at the midpoint of the contacted opposing faces, each jaw terminating 

1. An open end ratcheting wrench for contacting two opposing faces of a polygonal headed fastener at substantially their midpoints comprising a handle terminating in a wrench head including a rigid jaw as an extension thereof and a pair of recesses spaced from the rigid jaw and similarly positioned in opposing faces of the wrench head to form a web section therebetween, a movable jaw having a channeled flange section positioned in sliding cooperation in said recesses about said web, and a spring means positioned between the movable jaw and the wrench head to urge said movable jaw toward said head, said jaws being spaced in gripping relationship and connected through a concave arcuate surface, said concavity such that the arcuate surface is adapted to contact A leading edge of the fastener head to assure the positioning of the two jaws at the midpoint of the contacted opposing faces, each jaw terminating in a rounded contacting surface whereby a forward movement of the handle turns the fastener and a rearward movement of the handle urges the movable jaw out from the wrench head in opposition to the urging of the spring means causing ratcheting.
 2. The wrench of claim 1 wherein said spring means is a coil spring positioned in aligned bores of the wrench head and the movable jaw, respectively, and secured therein through pin means extended through openings in said wrench head and movable jaw, respectively. 